Composite materials have been used increasingly in a variety of industries, including the automotive, marine and aerospace industries. In these applications, composites often include strong fibrous materials, such as carbon, aramid, glass or quartz, bonded together with a resin, such as an epoxy. Composite materials generally possess a high strength to weight ratio in comparison to metals and plastics. These attributes enable composite items to be made lighter and/or stronger than conventional metal parts.
However, fabrication of composite items is relatively more complicated than metal fabrication. Generally, composite items are built up, layer upon layer on a mold or the fiber component is placed and then impregnated with resin. Afterward the item is cured and removed from the mold. While some shapes are relatively easy to generate in this manner, others are not. In addition, while composites are quite strong, they are generally not as tough as metals. Conventionally, when dissimilar qualities are to be combined in a single component, two materials are welded, glued, or otherwise joined together. For example, a dense plastic film may be glued to a foamed plastic to form a light, abrasion resistant material. Unfortunately, conventional adhesives and joining methods may not form adequate bonds when joining high strength carbon fiber composites to metals. Furthermore, many safety-critical bonded structures, such as primary aircraft structures, may be required to have redundant load paths which allow the structure to continue performing even if the primary adhesive bond fails.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a hybrid composite item that includes dissimilar materials joined together, where this joint is capable of overcoming the disadvantages described herein at least to some extent.